Primary election results for mayor of Tacoma race

Victoria Woodards had a healthy lead in the race for Tacoma mayor with 8,929 votes, or 53.19 percent of the vote after primary election results dropped Tuesday evening.

Steve Haverly was in second place with 5,658 votes, or 33.71 percent of the vote and Jamika Scott was in third place with 2,133 votes, or 12.71 percent of the vote.

The two candidates with the most votes in the primary will move on to the general election on Nov. 2.

Woodards is the mayor of Tacoma and was campaigning to hold her seat for a second term after first being elected in 2017.

Haverly works in construction management. Scott is a writer and filmmaker who co-founded the Tacoma Action Collective, a local group “working to eliminate systemic oppression.”

The candidates for mayor have been vocal about the need lead the city of Tacoma out of the COVID-19 pandemic, while addressing rising rents and cost of housing and Tacoma’s homelessness crisis. Police reform is also among the top issues in the race as city leadership embarks on an anti-racist transformation, beginning with public safety and the police department.

Ballots will continue to be counted in the coming days, with the next round of results dropping Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. The results will be officially certified on Aug. 17.

Voter turnout was 12.7 percent out of about 566,000 registered voters in Pierce County as of Tuesday evening.